The early 1970s were a torrid time for the British motorcycle industry. Famous brand names had disappeared or were closing. Others were struggling with out of date motorcycles thanks to head-in-the-sand management, poor investment and no grip of industrial relations with an increasingly militant workforce.
BSA and Triumph had merged back in 1951 but continued to produce old designs that had barely any common parts right into the early 1970s. Desperate times call for desperate measures, as the saying goes, and the three-cylinder Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3, were developed as a way of combatting the eagerly awaited Honda 750cc four.
But the all-important US distributors for BSA just didn’t think the Rocket 3 was appealing enough against the Honda, despite the triple’s proven speed. Hence, they asked fairing specialist Craig Vetter to come up with a special version of the Rocket 3 for the US market, the X-75 Hurricane.
The X-75 had swooping glass fibre bodywork, a three US-gallon petrol tank, lowered gearing and a distinctive triple exhaust on the right-hand side. The motorcycle is credited with creating a new class of motorcycle, the cruiser. Various in-house shenanigans – something British industry was good at – meant the Hurricane was ultimately released as a Triumph model in 1973, with the BSA factory having closed its doors in late 1972.
There were two original BSA badged X-75 Hurricane prototypes and one of them is up for sale at H&H’s classic motorcycle auction at the National Motorcycle Museum on Wednesday 12 July 2023.
It only being sold because the man who found the prototype, brought it back to life, proved its provenance and kept it for the past 40-odd years, John Simmonds, has died.
John’s passion and respect for the unique Vetter-designed prototype machine involved sharing the bike with the public, riding, researching, reaching out to the motorcycle community and industry, to bring attention and awareness of an iconic design, designer and piece of British motorcycle history.
So why wasn’t the BSA X-75 Hurricane snapped by and put into production straightaway? After all, it wasn’t as if BSA had any better ideas. At BSA-Triumph’s design facility at Umberslade Hall (nickname: ‘Slumberglade Hall‘), the design was seen as “too trendy”.
The 1971 BSA X-75 Hurricane on auction is currently the only road-going ‘BSA Vetter Rocket 3’. The provenance on file, includes the BSA Owners’ Club Dating Certificate for frame VR2 and engine number A75R NE 00193. It is believed that just two prototypes were hand built. One built by Vetter in his Illinois workshop and the other assembled by the BSA works, to assess production specifications. Vetter donated his original prototype to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.
Fast Facts: BSA Vetter X-75 Hurricane Prototype
Auction estimate: £28,000 – £32,000
Registration No: EBW 172J
Frame No: VR2
Engine No: A75RNE00193
Capacity: 750cc
MOT: Exempt
